Once considered in the realms of science fiction, Google has embarked on its biggest, and perhaps most controversial project yet: the creation of the world’s biggest online library.

The controversial effort is chronicled in Google and the World Brain, a documentary by Ben Lewis that kicks off the 2013-14 season of Doc Soup, a monthly screening series at Bloor Hot Docs Cinema.

The film screens Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. and 9:15 p.m., and Thursday at 6:45 p.m. Lewis will be in attendance at all three screenings to answer questions.

With candid interviews from university librarians to industry insiders, the film takes you inside the enormity and secrecy surrounding Google’s attempt to scan every published book in the world.

With more than 10 million books scanned since the project began in 2002, Google is well on its way to achieving its goal except for one major problem: more than half of these books, six million of them, are protected by copyright laws. And not everyone is thrilled by the idea of building what author/futurist H.G. Wells conceived of as the “World Brain” in 1937.

Between lawsuits, individual deals with publishers and the occasional settlement, Google and the World Brain dives into the contemporary issue of online privacy, copyright, and freedom of information.

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